Saturday, 4 March 2017

Okay, I want everyone to look at the world right now. Look at everything that is happening. How does it make you feel? Do you feel helpless and overwhelmed and powerless? Do you feel angry?

Good.

We should all be angry at everything that is happening around us. We should be fucking furious. Our palms should be sweaty, our hearts should be palpitating, our teeth should be set tightly. We should feel tightly wound, like a spring ready to leap into the air, like a rubber band ready to snap.

I want us all to really sit in this. To marinate in this feeling, to let every injustice, every betrayal, every assault to wash over us like we are bathing in the filth of it. I want us to feel like it's running over our skin, puckering our fingers, making our hair filthy and greasy. I want our skin to crawl. I want us to feel on the precipice of losing it, to feel like if we don't lash out physically or emotionally, we will die.

Are we there? Good. Because this is the place of magic.

Magic is energy. It is the will that we channel to enact change in the world around us. So many times we are told to be calm, and clear headed, and raise our gentle, pleasant energy. So many people forget the darker, shadow side of the self also serves a purpose. Anger is the prefect catalyst for change, because it is an intense burst of focused, hot energy. Anger is just as pure as love.

Times are grim. Last year, for me, left me feeling angry. I feel it even now, knowing how the change in my life - the change that has been ultimately for the best - has showed a deception, duplicitousness, and cowardice I had been so blind to seeing in the world. I feel it now, bubbling through my skin like a vapour, waiting to have the kinetic energy directed at an ultimate end. I watch the world around me - the constant denigration of those who most need our love and understanding, the constant use and abuse of women and people of colour. The violation of bodies, all bodies, by those who have no right to them. All of these things make me enraged. It swirls together like a potent cocktail, begging me to take a sip and be a weapon in an arsenal against whatever I choose. Drink of me, it begs. Be strong, be definite, be my weapon.

I choose to use that energy for a more positive change.

It is easy to focus all of that shadow energy at something just as shadowy. It is temping to enact revenge or destroy. And sometimes, truly, there is a need for it. For me, though, I have not wanted to use this energy for anything other than justice for those who need it more than me. There is enough in this world that will seek to destroy, so much in this world that will try and shatter or crumple you. So much in this world that can make us all sick and exhausted merely thinking about it, never mind acting against it.

Take that anger, and hone it into a weapon. Hone it into a weapon for change in the world. Don't ignore it, or push it down. Really feel it, but be very clear about how it makes you feel. Channel that rage into something that enacts positive change in your life. Take that anger, and use it not for revenge, but for justice. I am not saying that you shouldn't curse - if the situation warrants it, do what you must. I have in the past, and I am sure I will in the future. You'll get no fucking shame from me.

I wrote a piece last year about darkness and the shadow self.

While I speak of the darkness, we must always remember what lives there. Anger lives there. Jealousy lives there. Fear lives there. Hatred and sadness live there. These are all important parts of our spiritual diet, but like proverbial junk food, moderation is key. A little fear is healthy, it keeps us alive. A crippling fear of being abandoned is not. Anger is a powerful motivator in moderate doses - it becomes cruel and bitter and hateful in large doses. The same goes with the light. Too much love leads into obsession. Too much kindness can seem insincere. Too much acceptance turns you into a doormat.

Balance, balance, balance.

Anger is a useful tool, and it is a place we all should visit. It is not a place we should live. It is a shroud we sometimes must wear, but it should never become a uniform. It is like sex magic - it can be a beautiful and bountiful way to raise energy - but too much can leave you in a place you never wished to be, and with possible unintended consequences. We need to practice self care and protect ourselves.

Witches, it is okay to be angry. We witches were born of anger and injustice, and we are born to be activists. We are catalysts for change, and we should use whatever we have to enact that change. We need to harness and use our anger to enact the change we want to see in the world and in our lives. We have a plethora of energy just begging us to be used - if the internet is any measure of how disenfranchised and furious people are feeling. It is a wellspring, powerful and pure. So, if you need to curse, do so. If you want to work positive workings, do so. Do what is best for you, but use the energy. Don't waste a drop.

I identify as a northern European traditional folk witch, and practice folk witchcraft - drawing on cultural roots, local folklore, mythology and folk tales. I blog on in a less structured way on tumblr, and am a founding member of the IDGAF Tradition of Witchcraft.